More User Reviews:

S: piney and resinous hop aromas with spikes of a dark, pithy citric aroma; hearty malt character underscores it all

T: caramel sweetness preps the palate for the slow-moving train of hop action that follows - lots of pine and resin draped over the citric elements and flavors; malt flavors are rustic and roasty, with suggestions of nuttiness and earthy spice

22 oz bomber poured into a tulip, a dense ruby red with brown and red elements. Couldn't decipher the code on the bottom. A one finger fluffy tan head decorates the top. Smells like a red, with some orange citrus and some bread. The taste is barley wine esque, heavy hops, a touch of heat, and dark fruit sugars. Very dense, carbonation is medium low. Things get a little sticky as it warms. Overall, I like it, but not quite the top the style.

Been on the coat tails of this brew for a minute. Glad to catch up with it.

L: Ballast Point's Handsome labeling excels once again. This is a special painting, of label, and of beer in a dogfishhead pint glass. It's a deep, brassy, ruby. Tough to see through, like a dusty powder of snow borne in a sturdy, icy breeze. This stuff really is beautiful, especially if you pour it at about ehhh, half a foot above the -*bottom*- of your glass. This gets some foam in there! Come get some fome!
S: Rich and sweet. Deep grainy breeze from the bottle says this has really been fermented artistically.
T: Really good. There, I said it. Meets the deep deep and rigorous requisites for a red, and meets them imperially. Literally. The perfect deep Fall beer, if we're talking seasonally. This taste really that good. Taste is a very competitive category overall for me, and the redness of this beer blasts its rankings way up, because of how much gravity i give to my red beers.
F: Smooth, quick, thick, fruity, wild. Kind of new. Again, passes quick is and is dry, yet within this constrains achieves huge things as an imperial red with ease....

O: Drink this asap if you can, it's availability is dwindling in my areas. Probably cellars really really well, frankly. This beer is uniquely sturdy for its lofty hoppiness.

Iam a big fan of uber hopped imperial reds so here we go!Poured into an imperial pint glass a clear rich bronze color with a billowing one and a half finger off white head that spits and shoots into a craterous mass leaving a full ring of lace behind.Herbal and grassy hops with a tinge of pine resin,not a big malt profile wich surprised me a little,but I loved the hops.Not quite as full as I would have liked in the mouth,not watery but for the style I may have liked a little more fullness.Flavors of alcohol dipped malty-gummy fruitiness and brown sugar then more of a herbal/leafy hop flavor that turns into a big of grapefruit rind,as I drink more the complexities unfold more.There is a nuttiness that keeps the beer from becoming overly sweet and boozy.At first the beer didn't impress much but as I drank more it impressed more.

This beer hit the spot the other night and I hope to come back for more. Had this on tap at the San Diego Brewing Co. and it was great. Poured a great amber color with a great head and nice lacing. The smell leaned more towards the IPA side of things with a nice wiff of hops and a little carmel malt scent in there too. The taste was very good and was a perfect mix between a strong amber and an IPA with a nice healthy hoppy flavor backed by a sweet malt that broke through very nicely and came to the foreground to ballance. I too hope they bottle this one someday, I'll buy!

22 oz bomber poured into a Stone glass. Golden color. This has a very boozy taste. Very hoppy with a lot of bitterness. At 10.0 ABV it is quite powerful. There are a lot of better Red`s out there. Not up to the usual Ballast Point standards.

The beer pours a reddish-amber color with an off-white head. The aroma is caramel and toffee malts with some nice fruit tones. The aroma smells very sweet. The flavor is caramel and chocolate malt with a good amount of orange and pine hops. The malt backbone goes very well with the strong hop profile. Medium bitterness overall. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

This beer is huge. Pours dark crimson with a tiny tan head. Aroma is mostly hops and caramel malt, with some fruitiness. The taste is very strong. Thick with malt and caramel, but offset by the heaping of bitter hops. Some citrus towards the back. Creamy mouthfeel with some stickiness. Its a sipper, but a really good one.

Best part of this beer was its aroma. Pungent grapefruit burst followed by more citrus notes. A bit of sweet and caramel malt aroma as well. Pungent and powerful.

I can't taste the citrus hops as well as I hoped I might. Extremely bitter, though that should be expected with the name. Sweet, bready, and caramel malts do their best to match up, but this beer banks on bitter.

Thick mouthfeel. Heavy and substantial, which is appropriate given the style and the ABV, but there's no way to drink a lot of this, nor would I particularly want to.

A true tongue-buckler. This beer has earned its name, perhaps the most bitter non-DIPA I've ever had. Tasty, but not incredibly drinkable.